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UK Parliament rejects leaving the EU without a Brexit deal

The deeply divided British Parliament can only seem to agree on one thing: It doesn’t want the United Kingdom to leave the European Union without a deal، according to VOX news.

Parliament rejected a “no deal” Brexit on Wednesday. This was part of a series of votes Prime Minister Theresa May promised this week. It followed another humiliating defeat of her Brexit deal in Parliament on Tuesday.

The outcome of this no-deal vote played out as expected، though the process was somewhat strange. Members of Parliament introduced and approved an amendment to May’s motion (which specifically ruled out a no-deal exit on March 29) to eliminate a no-deal Brexit altogether. That amended motion ultimately prevailed، 321 to 278.

But this vote solves absolutely nothing when it comes to finding a solution to Brexit. Instead، it leaves the UK in pretty much the same position it’s been in for months: with a desire to exit the European Union with some sort of deal، but with no apparent majority for the compromise agreement May painstakingly negotiated with EU leaders.

Wednesday’s vote also doesn’t necessarily avert a no-deal Brexit. A no-deal Brexit is the default position of the Article 50 process، the provision of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty that the UK is using to exit the bloc. The only ways for the UK to avoid a no-deal exit are approving an agreement with the EU or canceling Brexit altogether.

Parliament will have another chance to direct the Brexit process this week، with one more vote on Thursday — this one on whether to ask the EU for a short extension to the Brexit deadline. Postponing Brexit beyond March 29 requires the approval of all 27 EU member states، and they will likely require the UK to give them a specific reason for the delay. The EU has been firm that a reason can’t be more negotiations.

A delay also doesn’t eliminate the possibility of a no-deal Brexit; it might just postpone it for a few short months. Parliament has، as of Wednesday، said it doesn’t want to break up with the European Union without a deal. But that’s about all it can agree on.